Struggling video game publisher THQ reported a smaller loss than analysts expected, but it also warned that some of its upcoming titles need some extra polish. That could mean some delays for several of its future games.

Brian Farrell, chief executive of embattled video game publisher THQ, has endured a lot of criticism in the past year as investors have pummeled the company’s stock price and watched as Farrell has had to make cutback after cutback in staffing.

THQ’s net income for the third fiscal quarter fell short of the number expected by analysts. The results show how tough the video game market has become for publishers that aren’t executing with a number of great hits.

Video game publisher THQ today announced it is officially shifting its focus from traditional kids’ licensed games to “core” franchises such as Saints Row, UFC, and Darksiders in order to become a more streamlined organization. The announcement comes after recent layoffs at its family division, Play THQ, and rumors that the struggling company was looking to cancel its 2014 lineup of titles.

“Cloud gaming” has become a hot topic lately, with game startups such as OnLive, Gaikai and Otoy serving up cloud-based game streaming. But the best practices for cloud gaming aren’t yet clear cut, according to Brian Farrell, chief executive of big video game maker THQ, speaking at the Cloud Gaming USA conference in San Jose, Calif. Wednesday,

THQ laid off more than 200 employees today as it tried to realign its workforce in light of disappointing sales of its most recent games. That kind of strategic retreat will likely convince more game developers to refocus on making social and mobile games instead of more traditional games.

Brian Farrell is the longtime chief executive of THQ, the publicly traded video game publisher based in Calabasas, Calif. THQ is in the midst of a turnaround effort as it focuses on better, higher-quality games like many other large rivals in the video game business. THQ is making big bets on titles such as Saints Row the Third, Metro Last Light, Margaritaville, Space Marine, and others. (My preview coverage of Space Marine raised quite a stir, but Farrell was quite diplomatic about that.) Farrell a good-humored executive who is doubling down on big titles and is expanding into new digital games. We met up with him for an interview at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles last week, where the company showed off a bunch of major titles.